


Jumbled, Anguished Thoughts

by Cherry_Art



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Red Plague (The Arcana)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23523397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherry_Art/pseuds/Cherry_Art
Summary: Alya begins working again after ignoring Julian for two days and comes to a harrowing conclusion.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Kudos: 11





	Jumbled, Anguished Thoughts

Curled up in bed, Alya’s shivering had gotten worse. She felt too cold, but when she had the blanket on it was as if her skin was on fire. It was tormenting how she was never able to get comfortable, always just a few degrees too hot or cold. 

Groaning softly, she slowly sits up and eases herself out of bed, leaning against the wall as a dizzy spell overcomes her. After a moment her vision sharpens again and she’s able to walk, moving slowly over to her wardrobe to get into her clothes. The white skirt and off shoulder white shirt slip on easily, light fabric gliding over her skin. Her shaking fingers fumble with her corset belt though, struggling for a moment before managing to clasp it around her waist. It slips slightly and she tightens it, realizing that she had become thinner since working with Julian to find a cure for the Red Plague. 

With a huff she exits the room after tugging on her boots and slipping on the white plague mask they had to wear. The familiar scent of herbs puts her momentarily at ease as she clasps the beaked mask around her face, walking to the dungeons below the palace. She’s thankful not to run into anyone on her way, slipping into the library unnoticed. 

She pulls the correct books and walks through the secret tunnels, entrance sliding shut behind her. She walks down the stairs, boots clicking on the slightly damp stone. Once she gets to the elevator, she stops as a coughing fit comes over her. Once her throat clears she inserts the key, unlocking the lift and getting in. The grate shuts behind her and her vision blurs slightly as she starts moving down, though clears quickly once it stops moving. 

She steps out and doesn’t stay to watch the elevator go back up, instead heading straight into the dungeon, which had been made into an experimentation area, as well as doubling as offices for the doctors working there. 

Alya goes to her office in the back, ignoring the test subjects and cages, the tables and tools. She had long since been conditioned to the environment, barely even noticing the scent of rot and infection coming from the plague affected patients and test subjects. 

Opening the wooden door to her office, Alya’s mind finally catches up to her body, fully awake. Thoughts of two nights ago fill her head before she can stop them, the memory of how his lips felt on hers branded into her mind. Face flushing, she shakes the thoughts away and moves to sit at her desk. It wouldn’t help her to think of that now; being distracted wasn’t helping her get any closer to a cure. 

Beginning to work, Alya starts an entry on a piece of parchment as she does experiments, trying different methods of trying to combat the plague. Recording her findings, she groans in frustration when she comes up with nothing, sending her into another coughing fit. 

After a minute she manages to stop, taking deep breaths. As she gets back to work, her skin begins to heat up to uncomfortable levels, which was unusual considering she was in the basement where it was cool. Frowning, she moves to get up to get a drink of water but becomes overcome by dizziness, gripping onto her desk to keep from falling. Once steady she begins to slowly walk out of her office, now shivering. 

At this point Alya knew something was very wrong. She had suspected for a while but hadn’t been sure, chalking it up to what had happened with Julian before. Now she feels a growing dread that it’s something else, and something much worse. Moving to a table in the back of the room, Alya picks up her flask and undoes her mask as she takes a shaky sip, spilling a bit over her lip. She hastily wipes it away and secures her mask again, replacing her flask in its place. She decides to leave the dungeon for a bit to get some fresh air, glancing at the door to Julian’s office before tearing her gaze away and hurrying into the hall immediately outside the room. 

Stepping into the elevator, she clutches the wall as it lurches up, unsteady. Alya sighs in relief once the golden lift stops moving, stepping out and unfastening her beaked plague mask from around her face. Moving up the steps and out of the library, Alya sighs softly in relief, though it causes her to be violently tossed into another coughing fit. 

Once she momentarily recovers, she begins walking through the palace corridors towards the front door. She silently thanks no one for being around as she walks out of the building, walking towards the fountain. Once satisfied that no one else is around she walks to the grand fountain made of stone and marble, sitting along the edge of the bottom lip of the structure. She looks down at her reflection distractedly, only breaking away from her thoughts when she catches something unusual. 

She frowns as her eyes widen, leaning further down to get a better look. She freezes, eyes blown wide. Rubbing frantically at her eyes with balled fists, she wills her reflection to be back to normal when she opens them. Sorely disappointed and now almost in a panic, she stares unblinking at the red tint surrounding her iris where her eyes should be red. Alya stumbles back, jerking away from the fountain and causing herself to fall onto the plush grass. She quickly picks herself up and dashes back into the palace, though her steps are shaky and slightly uncoordinated. Desperately hoping that the red had just been due to lack of sleep was a fool’s wish, but she was frantic and not quite thinking straight. Securing her mask back over her face, she’s hyperaware of the state of her skin and eyes, the chalky pallor and red rimmed eyes telltale visuals of a plague victim. The other symptoms all added up now: loss of appetite, dizziness, violent coughing fits, random changes in tempurature. 

Alya hurries back down to the dungeon and into her office, locking the door. Her thoughts jumble, but one anguished thought stands out among the rest: “I think I have the plague.”


End file.
